Apparatus for measuring materials in concrete construction



Apr. 10, 1923..

H. D. PALMER ET AL APPARATUS FOR MEASURING MATERIALS IN CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION 2 sheets-sheet 1 Filedpct.

A in, 3923. 1,451,196

H. D. PALMER ET AL APPARATUS FOR MEASURING MATERIALS IN CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION Filed Oct. 17, 1921 2 sheets-sheet '2 adrzioz's/ f/fi. airizez Mb/972 Z/XjizeZ Patented Apr. 10, 1923.

HERMAN D. PALMER AND JOHN W. BRHEL, OF HARTFORD, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNORS TO THE KISSEL MOTOR CAR COMPANY, OF HARTFORD, WISCONSIN, A. CORPORATION OF "WISCONSIN.

APPARATUS FOR MEASURING MATERIALS IN CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION.

Application filed 0ctober1'7, 1921. Serial No. 508,409.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, HERMAN D. PALMER, a citizen of Germany, and Joint W. BRHEL, a citizen of the United States, both residing at Hartford, in the county of Washington and State of Wisconsin, have invented an Improved Apparatus for Measuring Materials in Concrete Construction, of which the following is a speciiicat' in.

The invention has reference to an improved method of measuring the materials constituting the elements of concrete mixture, commonly termed the mix, which is especially adapted for use where large uantities of these materials are employe as for example, in the construction of concrete roads.

Prior to the invention herein, it has been the custom to discharge the sand and gravel to be mixed directly from the "bins containing the 'same into the com artments of a; truck body or wagon box y means of which they are conveyed to the scene of the building operation, for mixture with the cement to form the concrete. By this method the amount of the material discharge from a sand or gravel bin is controlled by an attendant stationed at or near the bin, upon signal from .another attendant located in the vehicle body, the latter determining by sight when the proper amount of material has been discharged. Obviously it is of extremejmportance that the proportions of the elements of the mix be accurately and uniformly maintained, and to insure against inaccuracy in this respect it is customary for the state to em loy ins ectors at the place of loading. requent y the attendants make miscalculations, with the result that material must be removed from the vel iicle body or added thereto. Consequently theloading operation consumes a substantialamount of time; there is a considerable waste of materials due to theremoval of '45 the e'xcess in a given case and depositing the same on the groun'd at the side of the vehr ole body';--and an excessive number of men are employedjito accomplish the measuring and discharging operation.

, The present invention consists'in the provision of an apparatus by means of which the measurement and discharge of the sand and gravel, and, if desired, the cement, is

controlled in each instance by a single attendant, and is effe ted in such a way that a high degree of a curacy is insured; the

principal aim of the invention being to simplify the operation and thus to minimize the cost thereof, by eliminating waste in labor and materials, minimizing the amount of time required for the operation, and

otherwise increasing the efficiency thereof.

An important object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of a simplified construction which lends itself readily to the change from time to time, as may be neces sary, of the, place of loading.

The objects of the invention thus generally stated, together with other and ancil-.

lary advantages, are attained by the construction and arrangementillustrated in the accompanying drawings forming part hereof wherein we have illustrated a preferred form of the invention. It is to be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the precise construction and arrangeinent herein disclosed for it will be obvious that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a front elevation of our improved apparatus illustrated in connection with a bin containing sand and gravel. Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view showing gravel, sand and cement measuring and loading stations. Figsi 2 and 3 ,are respectively end and side views on an enlarged scale of the upper portion of one of the loading stations.

We have herein shown our invention employed in connection with a bin previously constructed. Thus, referring to Fig. 1, A designates generally a bin having a central partition B forming two compartments A and A The compartment A herein constitutes the sand compartment and the compartment A the gravel or stone compartment. As will be understood, the sand and gravel is introduced into the compartments A and A respectively by suitable means such as an endless conveyor (not shown).

stationed-opposite each of the compartments A and A we provide what may be termed generally'as loading stations C and C. Each of these stations comprises ,a framework 10 constituting a sub-structure supporting a plurality of measuring units complished through the medium of an up lever 14, effecting the flow of material from the bin A through the discharge trough E and swinging spout 13. The vehicle body having been positioned below the boxes 115" the attendant operates the lever 17, releasing the bar 22 for downward movement under the action of gravity acting upon the door 16. It sometimes happens that an initial movement is necessary to be imparted to the bar 22 by the attendant, and this may be acright handle 31 fixed'upon the forward end of the trip bar 22 as shown in Fig. 3. Upon. such operation of the lever 17, the stud 27 is moved. out of retaining position and the bar 22 swinging on the arms 24 permits the door 16, through the medium of the links 23 to descend into open position. Upon the release of the material from the measuring boxes the counterweights 21 and 28 retract the doors 16 and the operator returns the lever to its holding position as determined by a stop pin 32.

The vehicle now proceeds to the next filiing or loading station and receives in each of the several compartments a predetermined quantity of sand as determined by the size of the measuring boxes of this station, the operation being substantially the same and under the control of a single attendant as in the case of the gravel-loading station. Each of the compartments of the vehicle body having now received a definite quantity of gravel and sand, the vehicle may 8 proceed to the scene of the building cgieration where the mixture with cement to term the concrete is completed.

It it should be desired. the mix may be completed at this stage of the operation by adding-cement in measured quantities to the sand and gravel in the several compartments of the vehicle. In this case. the vehicle 'proceeds to the filling station C where cement contained in the measuring boxes 11, is released tor discharge into the several compartmcnts of the vehicle. ii

Obviously we have provided a measuring and discharging system for the materials of the mix which materially, increases the efiiciency of this portion of the work. The time within which the loading is accomplished is substantially reduced, requiring on an average. five or six seconds. as compared to as'many minutes with the previous method. Moreover, the operation is accomplished with much greater accuracy; with the substantial elimination of waste of material; and the number of attendants is materially reduced. The construction of the apparatus is comparatively simple and is readily adapted to meet the peculiar conditions under which it is used.

We. claim as our invention:

1 In an apparatus of the character described,- the combination of a supporting structure having a plurality of measuring units, a plurality of hinged counterbalanced doors normally closing the lower ends of said units, means'tor locking said doors in closed position. and means for releasing the doors for effecting the discharge of the ma-, terial from said units into separate compartments of a vehicle body positioned therebeneath.

2. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of an elevated sup port. a plurality-of measuring units carried by said support and each having a drop bottom. means normally maintaining said drop bottoms in closed position, and means operable to release simultaneously said bottoms tor cil'ecting the discharge otthe material from the units into a vehicle body located, beneath them.

3. In an apparatus of the character de scribed the combination of an elevated support. a plurality of measuring boxes carried by said support and each having a drop bottim. means opcratively connecting the bottoms of each oi said boxes .i'or movement in unison. means tending to hold said bottoms in closed position including a. trip bar opcrativciy connected with each of said bottoms and mounted for movement to permit the swinging of said bottoms into open position. and releasable means normally holding said bar against movement.

a. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a plurality of measuring units each having a hinged door constituting a bottom, a bar operatively connected with each of said doors and movable to permit the latter to swing into open position. means normally holding said bar against movement, and means for returning the doors to their closed position upon the discharge of the material in said measuring units.

5. In an apparatus of the character described. the combination of a measuring unit, a member normally closing the lower end of said unit, a bar having an operative connection with said member and mounted for movement to permit said member to move into open position. releasable means for holding said bar against movement and means automatically returning said member to its closed position upon the discharge of the material in said unit.'

6. The combination of a measuring box having a releasablebottom, a member mounted for up and down movement and opera-' tively connected with said bottom, and means for holding said member in its elevated position whereby normally to maintain said bottom in its closed position.

7. The combination of a measuring box, a hinged door normally constituting a closure for the lower end of said box, a bar op-. eratively connected with said door. and

means adapted to support said bar comprising a pair of links swingable toefi'ect the raising and lowering movement of the bar with one end of the bar traveling in the erect a circle, and a locking member normally abutting said end of the bar to hold it against movement and thereby said door in its-closed position.

8, The combination of a measuring box, a door hinged at the lower end of said box and normally constituting a closure therefor, means normally supporting said door in its closed position but permitting of its movement into open position, and means for re turning the door to its closed position comprising an arm fixed with reference tothe door and a counter-balancing weight carried by said arm.

9. In an apparatus of the charaeter described, the combination of a plurality of measuring boxes each having a releasable bottom, a bar swingably mounted for up and down movement and operatively connected with each of said bottoms whereby they are opened and closed simultaneously, means for moving said bar in the direction to open said bottoms, and means operatively connected with the bar to return the doors to their initial or closed position.

10. The combination in an apparatus of the character described of a movable spout communicating withv a material containing bin, a plurality of measuring boxes mounted forwardly of said bin and into which said spout is adapted to discharge the material to be measured, means normally closing ,the lower ends of said boxes, means normally holding said closing means in operative or closed position, and means for releasing the last-mentioned means to permit the operation of the closing means into open position.

11. A loading apparatus for concrete road or like construction, comprising separate sta-' tions for the sand, gravel and cement to conr stitute the mix, each station having one or more units in which a preliminary measurement of the given material may be eflected, and also means whereby the measured material may be discharged at the proper time into a vehicle positioned below the units.

12.' An apparatus for measuring materials for use in concrete construction work comprising, in combination with a source of supply for the several materials to comprise the mix, a plurality of separate measuring boxes one for each of said materials, means for supporting said boxes in elevated position so as to provide a passageway beneath the boxes for a motor vehicle or the like, means for controlling the flow of the several materials by gravity directly from their respective sources of supply into said boxes and in quantities determined by the individual natures of such materials and their proportion in the mix, and means for-controlling the discharge of the materials from said box into the vehicle body when the latter has been positioned to receive the materials.

13. An apparatus for measuring a material to be used in concrete construction Work comprising, in combination with a bin having an outletloeated a substantial distance above the ground, a supporting structure having a measuring boxv supported thereby in elevated position but below said bin outlet so as to be adapted to receive the material flow ing by gravity directly from the bin into the upper open end of the box, manually voperable means for controlling the flow of a predetermined quantity of the'material into said box to measure it, and means for controlling the discharge of the material from the box into a vehicle body positioned beneath it, said supporting structure being adapted to permit the passage of a vehicle beneath the box.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands.

HERMAN D; PALMER. Jomi W. BnHEL. 

